Behind

I guess that could mean two things, and both would be true! I am behind on my posts, and I am going to talk about my behind. HA!

Life just seemed to get away from me here. I did my big craft fair and came out ahead! Things went really well. I sold cupcake bits, and cakesicles, the mason jars of cookie mixes, and muffins that well, I deep fry. Yes, you read that correctly. Deep fried. They are AMAZING! I use one of my own muffin recipes, make a buttermilk batter and there ya go. The other amazing thing about it, was that I sold out of them. TWICE! People loved them, they would come in from the other parts of the fair looking for what was making the "wonderful smell". I had a lot of fun doing it too. And I got invited back to do it again next year.

After that insane weekend, I took a week to recup, and then to clean and get ready for out of town visitors and Train Junkies birthday. I am now the mom of a 5 yr old. Which I have to say absolutely blows my mind. When did he grow up? And this morning? His first loose tooth appeared.

On to my "fitness". I finally got my Turbo Jam dvd in the mail. Its a lot of fun, and I love it. I did HORRIBLY on my soda intake. When I bake, and bake continually, I basically inhale diet soda. And then inevitably pay for it. Although I will say that I finally broke down and bought another pair of jeans. I dread shopping for jeans. Talk about a buzz kill. Shopping is one of my favorite things to do and to have to shop for jeans just upsets me. Either they are so low waisted, there is no hope of pulling them over my behind, or they fit and are miles too long. Instead I was pleasantly surprised to find a pair I really liked, and then to discover they are an 8!! Its been a LOOOONG time since I was an 8, so I know things are definitely looking up. What also added to my weight loss, was our whole violently ill episode this past week. I have never been so sick, and hope to never be that sick ever again. Hubby told me afterward, that I asked if I was dying. I ended up not eating for about 2-3 days. And then ended up in the Dr.'s office for kidney stones. Remember when I said I had paid for the soda? Yeah. So now I am doing water, lots of water. And diet Sprite. Which isn't the same as diet Coke, not even remotely.
Its nice to know I have a reprieve for 3 weeks before checking in for the final time for Fit Friday. I will be working my behind off, literally!! See ya all in 3 weeks. Although hopefully I will post something between now and then!

In Need Of Major Help Here

I forgot to ask in my post a slightly embarrassing question. But I figure since a lot of you are baring it all in your Fit Friday posts, I would pop my bubble of comfort and just come out with it.

I meant to post my goals for this coming week. And the biggest one, since I have found an ab exercise that truly works, (when I do it, that is) is to look for a really great exercise for my thighs/inner thighs. You know how when you are walking behind a tall, thin woman in the perfect pair of jeans, which is often for me, I am only 5 ft 3, and you wish you looked like that in them, or owned them. Well that is what I wish for. I want that space back between my thighs. Does ANYONE know how to get that?!?
So please share your favorite thigh workouts! Silly or otherwise, do you dance around, do lunges down your hallway? I am up for anything!

Goals: More WATER! Even on my soda days.
More Fruits and Veggies, not so much accomplished last week...
Stick with the Abs exercises- 3-4 times this week
Find a good Thigh exercise- and then do it!
Work out 4-5 times this next week, either Pilates, or hip hop (ALONE)

Not Exactly Missing In Action

Man, this has been one long week. Sickness in the form of a cold or the flu invaded my body and then knocked me on my rear. Sneezy, achy, stuffy, miserable. I felt like my head was going to explode. I didn't work out. I could barely drag myself off the couch, only to care for my kiddos. On the bright side, I hardly ate! And stuck to my soda regimen. Hubby swears my rear is much smaller. As well as the "saggy I last carried an almost 10 lb baby" flab. All good things. I needed a speedy recovery though. I have a rather nice size event I am vending my wares at. Its a upscale designer jewelery show called Glitter. I and another baker (she has been doing this a lot longer than me!) will be THE ONLY food vendors there. Scary. Exciting.
This happens Wednesday, so tonight I am heading into the commercial kitchen to get as much stuff done as I can.
Hubby's birthday is Wednesday too. Having checked with him, he has agreed to celebrating on Thursday. On the menu? Pot Roast complete with carrots and potatoes, and a cherry pie. Which is his very favorite. Although I tried to convince him that what he really wants is a cake that looks like a tank. I am trying to perfect my fondant skills here! I gave in, it is his birthday! But I get to make the cake and send him to work with it.




Still here? I took a break and did a 30 minute workout, hip hop, if you were interested. I have no rhythm. Seriously. But it is fun, and gets my heart rate up. Even if I don't look quite so posh doing it. In the long run, I will look Hot for the Holidays! Besides, my favorite jeans are looking just a little too broken in, and I really want to be in my jeans that are just waiting to be pulled on.

Ok, I have some things to print up and get pulled together for a long work night tonight. Maybe it will snow at some point.

Just Stuff

>>YAWN<< This has been a crazy busy week. I prepared all week for a craft fair yesterday. It went really well too. Sold out of a couple of things, and even got some outside orders! One of which is to do favors for a wedding. So much for avoiding the wedding industry for a while.
We also celebrated, although kind of on the fly since there really wasn't time, our 7 yr wedding anniversary. Yep, its already been 7 yrs since I landed me the best hubby ever! Seriously, I am truly blessed, and God definitely knew what He was doing when He brought me hubby. And 3 kids, and 7 moves later we are still going strong. So, Thank you hubby for 7 awesome years, you are amazing! I can't wait to see what God has in store for us in the years to come.
On the kid front, TJ is eagerly awaiting his 5th birthday, 5 days before Christmas. Ever since his brother had a Monster Truck birthday last year, this has been his greatest desire. And has continued to remind me of this for the past 9 mos. Since I have been becoming more proficient in the baking department, I told him I could make his cake even cooler. But no, he wanted none of that. He wants his cake to look EXACTLY like his brothers. Chocolate marshmallows as boulders and all.
Thankfully Little Guy wants a Pokemon birthday so I can exercise my right to overachieve in the cake department!
For those of you with children, you know they can come up with some funny things sometimes. Thursday, my Little Guy was UBER cranky. And WHINY. My least favorite mood in him. I kept trying to deal with him, while Train Junkie sat quietly next to me watching Tom and Jerry. I finally just told LG to just knock it off, I didn't want to hear the whining anymore!
Tj looked up and me and said, "I'm whining on the inside!"
I thought I would answer a question for Missy asked me about how am I staying away from the Diet Coke? I have to say it can be really tough. We do keep it in the house since hubby drinks it too. But we also have bottled water. And also lemonade. When we go out, and stop to get something to eat, I usually try to have a bottle of water with me. I don't want to waste it so I am less likely to order a soda if I already have a drink with me. Yesterday at the craft fair, I had brought a bottle of water with me from home. (When it comes to water, I am infinitely picky so I tend to take my own. Spring water icks me out!) Anyway, when they were going around taking lunch orders, the lady asked if I wanted a drink, I saw they had soda. But then looked over and remembered my water and told her "No thanks, I already have a drink." And if we eat out in a restaurant, which isn't all that often, I will usually get Strawberry Lemonade since its my absolute favorite and I can't just pull one out of the fridge at home.

Now I will leave you with some pics of my table from the craft fair....

Checking In

How'd I do this week? Not so good. We had some out of town guests, so other than walking I didn't really do a lot in the way of exercising. I did get in my 3 days of no soda. So WOOO HOOO! there. Eating wise? Not so good there either. I had some Halloween candy, and since I did a craft fair last weekend, I "sampled" some new items I baked. I did keep up with my skipping extras on my meals, as well as not eating every last bite on my plate.
And last night I hopped back on the wagon, and thanks to all you who let me know who was responsible for the lovely ab exercises (Mom's Toolbox!), I was able to pick them back up again. I did loose my partner (hubby...) who claimed he was too tired to do them. Although he was kind enough to sit next to me and count and encourage. And really what more can I ask for?
And I was really excited to pull 2 pairs of pants out of my drawer and find they fit me perfectly! Neither of them are the pair I am aiming for, but I figure hey! its a step closer, right?
Goals?

* Keep up the water intake, stick with the 3 days no soda
* Get back in the groove of doing the ab exercises, they REALLY DO work!
* For that matter, get back on my workout schedule
* Add some more fruits and veggies to my diet (not a veggie eater really, so this will be hard.)

This is going to be really tough, I have craft fairs this weekend, the next, and another one almost immediately after that. Busy doesn't even come close to what I will be! I just have to make sure that even if I am tired, or just want to sit at the end of the day, I get SOMETHING in. Every little bit helps! Or is that just something I am telling myself?

Fit Friday!

I honestly didn't plan on this being my only post this week. Time got away from me! I have another craft fair tomorrow, so I spent most of Monday baking. Tuesday I cleaned the house, since Wednesday we had a friend visiting from out of town. So I took the day off Wednesday and did even more baking yesterday. Exciting, right? And somehow I managed to fit in some working out!





So how did I do this week? I started off really strong, working out everyday from last Friday through Tuesday. I did Pilates, and Kickboxing. As well as, and now I can't remember who had posted this on her blog, and I so wanted to link to her so if you didn't see it before, you too could go and read about it and start doing it now, anyway, I started doing the Plank, the Superman, and the V for my abs. Ok, that was a long sentence. So, if you were the wonderful person who posted that, PLEASE let me know so I can give you some props! yo.
I really think I only got in 2 days of no diet soda. I was really trying to get in 3, but got lost somehow.
The whole leave off a food "accessory" worked really well. And was such an easy way to skip some needless calories. I didn't feel deprived either. It was funny though, we buy the Smart Balance butter. And I always felt pretty good about using it on toast, or a crumpet. Then I saw there are 7 GRAMS of FAT in 1 tbsp. Yeah, NO!
I wish I had kept up the exercise through the rest of the week.
So, goals for this next week.

* 3 days, NO SODA, I will do it this time!
* Space my workouts better, 5 days of working out in a row may have burned me out...
* Add some intensity to 2 days.

Really, that is all I can come up with at the moment!
What are your goals for this week??

My Official Fit Friday Post

Not owning a scale, at least for the moment, means I will not be sharing my weight with you. Or with myself for that matter!
This week was pretty good. We walked to the park, I did 45 minutes of Pilates one day, and danced with my kids around the house! Let me tell you, that can be quite a workout. Especially since that means I am holding at least one child while dancing. And tomorrow I plan on heading to the gym for at least an hour workout.

Food-wise, I am working on leaving 3-4 bites on my plate. What works well for me, is feeding the Princess off of my plate. That way I am not finishing everything, she is! Today at lunch, I decided to forgo the cheese that would have normally been on my sandwich.
We are well known Diet Coke addicts in our house. For a while that seemed to be all I ever drank. Sad I know. I know better, when I met hubby, I NEVER drank soda, diet or otherwise. Always water. Somewhere along the way, I got sucked into the world of caffeine. Perhaps having children? So far, I am trying to drink one bottle (16 oz) of water for each can of soda. Which brings me down to one soda a day!
Goals for next week:
* Drink nothing but water 3 days
* Add another day of gym time
* Find an ab sculpting workout and stick with it
* Eliminate one extra (cheese, sour cream, mayo, etc.) from at least one meal a day

So what are your goals for next week?

I know I should post this on Friday....

It is almost Christmas. Ok, so maybe its more like almost Halloween. Anywho, all that means is that I am trying to lose the rest of the baby weight from my sweet little (not really little since at birth she weighed in at the petite size of 9lbs 15 oz) Princess. I am back to my pre-pregnancy (pre-THIS-pregnancy) weight. Which is good and all, but I have a pair of jeans in my drawer that are 2 sizes down from what I am wearing now. And I want to wear them!
So here is whats on the agenda to achieve my goal.



I am going to take part in Fit Fridays, over at It's Almost Naptime

I want to lose about 15-20 lbs, any more than that and hubby is threatening to bring home ice cream.
So our food intake around here will be subject to moderation, I am trying to eat smaller amounts, and only until I first begin to feel full. Also, I am going to stay on top of working out. I have been more active as of late, but I want it to be a regular thing. So as many days as I can, I will head either to the gym for a good hour long workout, or do Pilates at home. At least 4-5 days a week.
Want to get fit for the Holiday, head on over and join in the fun! Lets keep eachother accountable :) And please, feel free to ask me how its going!

Who Does Such A Thing???

Boredom had set in again, there wasn't anything really interesting on tv last night so I was blog wandering. And I came across this I had read the bit before, being a frequent visitor to imdb but I think I promptly forgot about it since it is such a blatant disregard to the hallowed text of Anne of Green Gables.
Reading it again, just irritated me all over again. Although it is nice to see that other people are equally riled up about it.
I have, as I am sure a lot of you have, grown up reading the Anne books. I devoured them, as well as Emily Of New Moon and any other book L.M. Montgomery wrote. Some day I hope to visit Prince Edward Island. The first two movies weren't too bad. I enjoyed watching them and felt they, for the most part, loosely followed along. Then the third one came out. And was TERRIBLE! It was a jumbled mess, that was nothing like the books.
I don't think I ever thought they would come out with another movie since #3 had been such a botched effort. And yet they have managed to make an even bigger mess of things. Can anything be done?? Any ideas?

Tagged again!!

Here are the rules:

* Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following questions.
* They have to be real places, names, things. nothing made up!
* You can’t use your name for the boy/girl name question.
* Tag at least 5 people to play along

1. What is your name? Shayna
2. A 4 Letter Word: Sent
3. A Boys Name: Stuart
4. A Girls Name: Selma
5. An Occupation: Soap Seller
6. A Color: Salmon
7. Something you wear: stitches... (if you get stitches, you are indeed wearing them)
8. A Beverage: Sangria
9. A Food: smoked salmon
10. Something found in the bathroom: shelves
11. A place: Salem
12. A Reason for being late: slipping on a loose step
13. Something you shout: SOLD!!
14. Now tag five others:
1. Sophie
2. Jeana
3. Missy
4. Sarah
and 5. Erin

And thats that. If you want to play along, or already have, link me in the comments so I can check it out!

Silly Talk

Hubby was playing on the floor with the kids, rough housing and when they were done, I heard him tell them, "Ok, time for circle time, where we share our feelings..."

Hubby asked Little Guy where he was born.

His answer?

"Mommytown!"

Another question, What makes you happy?

TJ: When Daddy stays home and we go to the Park

Little Guy: Crabs, and mommy making dinner because she is the best FRY COOK ever

Crafty-ness

I know I talk a lot here about what my kiddos are up to, and that is a lot of what I do through out the day. But I realized the other day, that most of you don't know what I do, besides being a mom and a wife. Which is well known to many, as a full time job in itself!
For the past 4 years, I have been an Event Planner. Working mostly weddings, and I loved them. At one point I got to kind of cater a few events along the way. Some small parties and a sweet little tea party. That was the biggest one. I made all the little sandwiches and all the goodies and you know what? I had MORE fun than working with all the Bridezillas I had been dealing with. I love to bake, I love to make new desserts and cookies.
So when we moved I wanted to have my Event Planning business but knew that it would be a while before I could get any clients. Its tough being new to an area. I know only a few people here, and none of them are looking for event planning of any kind.
And never being one to sit around and do nothing, I dabbled in bow making, DISASTROUS!
I tried making baby burp clothes, cute but time consuming. And I successfully made ONE baby blankie for my Princess. Which she LOVES by the way! And while a good friend of mine could whip out a perfect and cute bow in 10 minutes flat and then sell them, I just couldn't seem to get it together in that department. I felt like I had no crafty-ness to speak of.
But I did have one thing, my baking. And I had plenty of people telling me I should try selling it.
So about 2 weekends ago, I participated in my first ever Craft Fair! It was a pretty small one, however, it was a LOT of work and FUN getting ready for it. I made cookies, and brownies and those mason jars with the cookie mixes in them. And I actually sold stuff! People liked my baking and I even got invited to participate in some more craft shows this season. I am so excited! This is so not what I got into Event Planning for in the beginning. Although I have always hoped to add other aspects to my company. Someday housing a bakery, dress design, flowers, etc.
And there you have it! Just a little something I bet you didn't know! So, if anyone is even a little curious about what I bake, ask, I love to send out samples!!

Avoidance Issues?

I am typically known to avoid conflicts. I keep my thoughts to myself, unless I know a person really well. Which is why I avoid politics like the plague. That, and I usually end up a little bored. However, it would seem this time around, I just can't let it slide. I like to read around the internet when I get bored. I pick a blog I read semi-normally, and then pick someone out of their blogroll, and so on and so forth. Sometimes I find a new read, in order for that to happen, I have to be entertained or moved, both, and for the most part not offended. If I don't like it, I move on. There is no comment leaving, remember, NO CONFLICT!

I did however read something tonight that bugged me. Not that I am going to tell you where it is, because that would possibly cause me to have to engage in, yep, you guessed it. Conflict.

This just reached into my soul, and like a giant pricker weed, you know the ones you would step on out in your backyard when you went barefoot, rubbed me the wrong way.

Ah politics. Who ya gonna vote for? Simple enough question, right? Not when you have two candidates who both claim to be Christians. Charm, or experience? Do you vote for someone who claims to be able to UNITE us, bring us together and solve all our problems like a good buddy?
What about the other guy? Like a good blogger friend of mine wrote, Abortion is a deal breaker for me. And if someones platform is Pro-life, then that's where my vote will most likely be. Because as a Christian, I have to vote my morals. I have to consider what exactly it is the Bible says, and who is closest to that stance. Because whats in the Bible is black and white. There is no room for gray areas. I may have questions about doctrine, or maybe how a passage is being taught. But I think we are to study and grow from those questions. Not pick and choose what we believe. I know there are a lot of scriptures that can be open to interpretation. And while there may be things I don't like, or even want to do, I have to pray about it, ask questions, understand it better, and deal with it. I don't get to tell God, I don't agree with Your perfect word, so I am not going to do it.
We are to strive to be Christ-like, press on towards the goal. Walk in love, but uphold His word, even if that means not walking in unity.

Tagged

Its been a while since I have been tagged, so this was a nice little surprise. I was tagged by this new blogging friend.

So 7 weird or interesting things about me....

1. In the past 7 years I have lived in 7 different houses
2. I like to dip my french fries in a Frosty from Wendy's
3. When I was about 7, I was standing on my head and got a staple stuck in my scalp
4. I still have my wisdom teeth
5. Unless I am taking a shower, I hate to get my face wet (as in swimming)
6. I have never been stung by a bee!
7. June bugs terrify me, I can't stand the whirring noise they make when they fly at you. >>shiver<<

Now the tough part is trying to tag 7 random people. Lets see, I tag Laura, Daneen Shalee, this lady
Amanda at Baby Bangs

I only feel like tagging 5 people right now. Its hard to pick randoms. So if I didn't tag you and you want to play, TAG! your it too.

My Little Sleeping Angel!

5 Minutes For Mom have the best contests! This time around they are offering a cute bedroom set for a winning pic of your sleeping angel! I have 3 angels, but Little guy is the one who usually falls asleep! I think this is my favorite by far. And can you blame him, how comfy does he look?

So go, check out the contest and get a cute sleepy pic up!

Oh, and since the boys already have their bedroom all set up, The Princess will be the next one to get a bedroom set. So I would choose The Lily Rose set!!

If I Had A Choice...

Last Friday, hubby came home from work and then proceeded to tell me how they had a party and there had been cake, and hot wings, and ice cream. Oh, and he would have brought home some hot wings, but they ate them all. And the cake, yeah he was gonna bring that home too, but then decided to ask around first. So there wasn't any cake left either. BUT there were two gallons of ice cream at work and if I would like, he would bring those home. On Tuesday.

Yeah.

So Saturday after chatting with our neighbor about ice cream, I decided I really wanted some and once again mentioned it to hubby. At which point he mentioned again, on Saturday, that he could bring some home from work. On Tuesday.

Nope needed ice cream now, not 4 days later.

Thankfully the grocery store was having a BOGO deal so I bought some ice cream, and some cereal too since we go through it like water. One of which was the boys favorite Cookie Crisp. By the time we got home it was pretty close to bedtime, but my bottomless pits wanted a snack before bed.

First words out of TJ's mouth?
"Can I have cereal? Cookie Crisp?"

Now the whole point of buying the cereal was so we had it for in the mornings, and if I let them, the boys would eat cereal all day long. So I said no, but they could have some ice cream! Little Guy was all over that. Of course he wanted ice cream, who wouldn't want ice cream?

TJ that's who. Ok, you want cereal, you can have cereal and the rest of us will have ice cream. And that was exactly what he had. Cookie Crisp.





Later on I thought about it, and TJ is very smart. In his 4 and a half year old head, the choice was simple. Bowl FULL of little cookies, or about a scoop and a half of ice cream....

Would You Like A Sample?

A few weeks ago, I was shopping at one of my favorite new stores up here, Loehmans. Do you know it? If you have one near you and haven't been yet, GO!! GO NOW!!
Anyway, I picked up this cute little black dress, with white embroidery around the bottom. I fell in love with it and since it was UBER marked down, I got it. And then it hung in my closet for the next few weeks since it was rainy and a little chilly.



Monday came and presented the perfect opportunity to wear my cute dress. We had heard that The Food Network was going to be taping for a new show and they needed extras to come and eat delicious pizza. And who wouldn't be up for that?? Plus there was the whole "Who is the talent going to be" question. Of course they took too long getting set up, and The Princess lost patience and we ended up heading out to avoid a colossal meltdown.

HOWEVER! I thought this would be a great opportunity to wear my cute new dress. So after getting the kids dressed, because as you all know, you NEVER get dressed to go anywhere first, I headed up and got dressed, fixed my hair and makeup and came downstairs. Only to find out, that it was a SAMPLE. And on the back hem, inside was written in white fabric pencil I am guessing, SAMPLE in big letters. Which you could see through the dress. Of course. Tried the baby wipe trick. And quickly found that is probably the one thing that doesn't get off clothes. And I really didn't want to change my dress either. So I had hubby take a black sharpie market and go over the letters. It worked for what I needed it for.
Somehow, I doubt that put me at the height of fashion!

Pumpkin Patch

We did our first trip to the Pumpkin Patch yesterday. Now I know its only mid-September, but I finally feel Fall-ish and I wanted to relish it. We went last year to a small pumpkin patch but seriously, its really hard to get in the spirit of things when its 90 degrees out. Plus hubby had been deployed so he hadn't gotten to go with us last year.

So yesterday morning we piled in the car, and followed some friends out to our first real pumpkin patch. Complete with hay ride and corn maze! I hadn't ever done a corn maze before so I have no idea if ours was any different than others out there. It was like a game. You enter the maze, read the signs in the beginning with information about farming, animals and of course corn! Then as you go through this GI-NORMOUS maze you look for numbered checkpoints, answer the questions and then punch the answer on your card. There were 12 and let me just tell you, working our way through the maze with 4 children under 5 was SO MUCH FUN! Ok not really, it wasn't too bad, but they were worn out and ready to see the goats and donkeys and chickens about 10 minutes into it. We didn't get to the animals until about 3 hours later. BUT we did get all the checkpoints, correct answers and all without losing any kids! Something to be proud of, I'm sure!

We finished up with a hayride which was a lot of fun, and I know we will head back in a few weeks to pick out some bigger pumpkins to carve and also some hay bales to decorate with.

Sad News

Our poor little kitten met with a sad demise yesterday afternoon. When we got her Sunday she was only 4 weeks old and so tiny. The boys didn't understand how fragile she was and she fell off a high shelf in the garage they had put her on. Needless to say she didn't survive. We are so sad and miss our little kitty so much.

I would like to introduce you to our new kitten.....

Meet Shattering Love...









She is just the sweetest kitten, and it looks like Little Guy finally has found a friend.

Fun Stuff

So much has been going on around here, I just haven't had a chance to sit down and write anything. Hubby started work and he really enjoys it. Its a nice change from before. We all love that every night he comes home after work! Such a simple thing, but we were so used to his ship going out a lot.

We have decided to get a kitten! Hubby and I have been cat lovers for ever, and just haven't felt it was the right time in the past to add a kitten to our chaos. However, hubby helped a buddy of his move this past week and they had 2 cats. That was just the push he needed to remind him how much he missed having one around. So I have been looking on craigslist for a short haired kitten. TJ and Little Guy are so excited. When I asked TJ what he wanted to name the kitten, his reply? "Shattering Love" Um, WHAT? I have no clue where that came from. But we laughed a LOOOOONG time over that one.

It has been cooler and rainy here. Which has been great! Such a nice change from the melting, sweaty heat of our last home. Unfortunately, that means a little less outside time for the boys. So we piled everyone in the car the other afternoon to head to the grocery store. Hubby and I were chatting and laughing in the front seat. When Little Guy started trying to get Daddy's attention.
"Daddy!"
"Hey! Daddy!!"
"What, buddy?"
"Can you settle down Daddy, you're FREAKIN' me out here!"

Train Junkie is a hard sleeper. Once he goes to sleep, that is it. Kind of funny too since he can have a hard time getting to sleep in the first place. This can pose a problem though because if he needs to go to the bathroom at night, he doesn't wake up. So to keep him out of pullups at night, and save water on washing his sheets, we get him up before we head to bed to take him potty. However, he doesn't GET UP! Hubby has to pick him up from off his top bunk. Quite the feat since TJ is fairly tall for a 4 yr old. Then he carries him to the bathroom. We hold him up, and help him relieve himself. HE SLEEPS THROUGH THE WHOLE PROCESS!! After he is done, back into bed he goes and he continues to sleep as though nothing happened.



The Princess is growing so fast, there is no stopping her now! Her dancing has evolved from standing and bouncing to the Snoopy Dance. She hams it up for the camera, and we are definitely going to have to keep an eye on her! The Princess gets into EVERYTHING!

The Amish Would Not Be Pleased

Have you ever been given a starter for Amish Friendship bread? I got my first ziploc baggy full of it about 2 weeks ago. We went to go visit some family and one of my SIL had made this delicious bread. A couple days later she brought me and my other SIL our own starters with a copy of the instructions. They were very detailed on what to do for each day. Most of which consisted of "Mush The Bag". Hard workers those Amish.

I had asked my SIL what made the bread Amish, it was all in the preparation. You couldn't use any metal when making the bread. No metal bowl, spatulas, spoons, anything!

So follow the instructions I did. I mushed the bag, I added in the proper ingredients, and then mushed the bag some more. Finally on Day 10, the starter gets dumped in a PLASTIC bowl and more flour, sugar and milk is mixed in. Then you divvy out 4 cups into 4 separate ziploc baggys. Three you give away, one you keep to make for your family.

The rest of the batter in the bowl, you mix in a bunch more stuff to make the bread. Which I have to tell you is REALLY hard to do without the use of my Kitchenaid Mixer! Oh I desperately wanted to use it. But I stuck to my guns and stirred my batter in my plastic bowl with my wooden spoon. Finally it was ready, my oven was preheated, so into the bread pans the mix went. I popped them into the oven and let them bake for an hour. The house smelled WONDERFUL! All sugar and cinnamon-y.

It tasted amazing! The kids ate it up, and so did hubby when he came home. Until he pointed out something to me...







Looks like my Amish bread was not so Amish after all!! It never even occurred to me that I was baking it in METAL pans! I had put so much effort into mixing it in a plastic bowl, with a wooden spoon, staying away from my Kitchenaid. Only to BAKE the silly things in metal pans! Still delicious though!

Happy Birthday Princess!

As per usual, I am behind. But hey, can ya blame me? We packed and moved, and somehow slipped in a couple of birthday parties for the Princess.

Dear Princess

I can't even believe how much you have grown in the past year. Getting to know you thus (yes I said thus hee hee) far has been such a joy. Its funny, before we even knew you were coming, your brother Train Junkie started asking me for a baby sister. So we complied! When Mommy went into the hospital to have you, I was nervous and excited. But so ready to meet you. We didn't know if you were a boy or a girl. So when you finally made your appearance, I waited nervously for those 3 little words. Its a Girl! And a big girl at that. 9lbs 15 oz. Just an oz short of 10lbs. And so beautiful. You had a thatch of black hair and eyes the color of, well, we still don't know what color your eyes are! They change with the weather, the color of clothes you are wearing, and more than likely with your mood.



Before we knew it, you were brightening our days with smiles and learning to rollover. I knew crawling wasn't far behind. You love your brothers and when they take off to go do the things that boys do, you get so sad. Little Guy is one of your closest buddies, in fact after Mama and Dada you call out for him! I pray that you two always have such a close relationship. Although hopefully it will evolve from Little Guy trying to carry you around the room, and teasing you with your blankie!





Princess, you have been such a blessing to our little family. God knew what he was doing when he put a little girl in our lives. Daddy and I pray over you every night, that you would continue to be healthy and strong. And have a sweet spirit and a gentle heart. Which is usually the case unless you are tired. Then you become smack-y and grabby!

I can't wait to see how much you change and grow this coming year. You are walking, and starting to say little words. You love music and dance whenever you hear your favorite song. Which oddly enough, for the moment, is anything by Miley Cyrus! Mommy and Daddy, and your brothers love you SO MUCH!
Love always
Mommy, Daddy, TJ and Little Guy

Home

We have arrived.

Ok, so we arrived two weeks ago, but the point is that we are here! And couldn't be happier. Our new house is GI-NORMOUS. 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms. The kids have the entire basement for a playroom, and the laundry room, is exactly that. A room! So as to the home improvement goals I had. I have accomplished quite a few of them. We packed, moved, UNPACKED! and I am almost done with the Princess' room. The plan had been to get a light lavender color for her walls. One night we were at Lowes looking for a new plug in for our dryer. And I remembered that a GREAT friend of ours had suggested we look at their Oops paint selection. Sometimes you can get a bucket of paint for $5. I went and had a look and there was a gallon of paint that was a lovely shade of purple. Not as light as my vision, but still a great shade. So we went for it. I finally got to painting yesterday afternoon, its dark enough that we decided to just do her entryway and one large wall. The rest we will leave white. Target has these great butterfly wall decals so I picked up some of those and placed them on her walls. The Land Of Nod had these FABULOUS butterflies you can hang from the ceiling, so I got the pink one and the purple one. They look so fun hanging over her bed.

As soon as I finish edging and one more coat I will take some pictures and post them.

For the boys room, I think I am just going to do a mural of construction vehicles. As for the rest of the house, I will update as decisions are made!

And So The Crazy Begins

Eleven days people. Eleven days. Thats how long we have before we load em up and head em out. The kiddos and I managed to get through the weekend, which was really just a reprieve before the crazy begins. I had a Wedding I coordinated yesterday afternoon. It was a spur of the moment deal. The bride had called me the previous weekend, and I had stated I was available. Then a few days passed and I hadn't heard from her so I assumed either she had gone another direction or decided to just do it herself. Not the case. Thursday evening around, Oh, 10pm she called and claimed me and my services for her wedding day. Taking place 4 days later. Usually I am not one to take clients less than 6 weeks out, but I was promised it would be simple, I wouldn't even have to do the timeline. NEVER AGAIN. I won't go into a whole lot of detail here, I am saving that for a book someday.... But things did NOT go as planned. It was crazy from beginning to end. I felt like I was stuck in a bad movie, and was trying to direct everything with ear plugs and a blind fold.

Today a lot of time was spent figuring out logistics, changing our address, and making an appointment to have a tow hitch installed on our Durango. The Navy is moving us, in fact someone is coming out tomorrow morning to do a walk-through. However, we are getting a small enclosed trailer from U-Haul, (are they the ONLY company you can rent those from??) so we can take some things we don't want to worry about getting broke. I have a FULL tea service, and hubby and I have an extensive collection of Wedgwood. Plus clothes, bedding, the beloved Kitchenaid Mixer, and a few other things we decided we just couldn't live without for 2 weeks.

Next on the list, planning a 1yr birthday party for The Princess before we leave. Am I insane? I'd say there is a pretty good chance I am! So on top of preparing to move, I need to pick up party accessories, finish the High Chair Tu-Tu I am making for the party, as well as make all the food for it.
Here is the Menu:

Mini Chicken Turnovers
ooey gooey cookies
Monster Cookies
flowerpot desserts, flowers for girls, gummy worms for boys
Spinach Artichoke dip with pita chips/or tostitos
Cheese crackers
veggie tray
baby burgers on baguettes

Now you have to realize that I am doing all of this while hubby is gone to the Virgin Islands with his ship. You know to celebrate the 4th of July. There may even be a parade. There is no bitterness at all here. I love being the one who is single handedly organizing a move and planning a birthday party all while caring for our darling completely well behaved children. Oh wait, nope thats not me! Ok deep breath, going to my happy place... white beaches, crystal blue water, a cruise ship in the background, hard to tell... the sun is in my eyes, is that Royal Caribbean? US Navy?
Ahhh, I joke. I know its not hubby's fault. My opinion of the Navy has seen better days, but I am very thankful for all the ways God has blessed us, and part of that has been through the military and its benefits. I have an awesome hubby, a great marriage, and 3 healthy and sweet children. So while I may vent in anger sometimes, I know that God has placed us in this life for now, and for a reason.

Easy Summer Cooking....

I have to say on am with Bigmama on this one. Its hot and nasty outside, lets turn on the oven and heat up the house too. But since I have kiddos and a hubby who comes home from work hungry for more than just cereal, I have to. So here are some of the things we eat....

Home Made pizza
Now I know this sounds all kinds of involved, but its super easy and my boys LOVE LOVE LOVE when I do this because they get their own bit of dough to pat into a crust. Then they get to spread with sauce and top however they like, I make a bigger one for hubby and me and then I pop them into the oven for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Here is my pizza dough recipe:

In 1 cup hot water (in large mixing bowl) mix in 1 tsp salt and 1 pkt rapid rising yeast, stir with a fork.
Then mix in 2 cups of flour slowly. Have extra flour on hands to dust the dough and your hands to cut down on the stickiness and knead a couple of times to incorporate all the ingredients. Cover with about a tablespoon of olive oil and then cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and set in a warm place (which shouldn't be too difficult to find) and let rise for about an 30-45 minutes.

Pat it down, and make as many crusts out of it as you like! Top as the mood strikes you!


Italian Meatball Quesadilla

This is so good and very easy.

1 bag frozen meatballs
1 c marinara
Tortillas
Mozzarella

So follow the directions on the meatballs, to heat in oven. Slice in half, set aside
Take a tortilla, spread a little sauce on one half, sprinkle cheese, place meatballs on top of cheese. Sprinkle more cheese on top, and place in a preheated oven 325 degrees until cheese is melty. Remove from oven, fold in half, cut like you would a quesadilla and serve with sauce on the side for dipping!

Enjoy!

And be sure to stop over at Big Mama's for more summer cooking ideas!

Last One For The Day, I PROMISE!!

Man, I am post happy today. I completely forgot that I wanted to share with you all my ETSY page! See, I have big plans when we move. Big surprise there, right? I own a business right now doing event planning. And I truly enjoy what I do. Somewhere in the midst of wedding and event planning, I fell head over heels in love with baking. Its something that I have always enjoyed, but just did for fun. But after having The Princess, and hubby being deployed, I started playing around in the kitchen. Creating new recipes and tweaking old ones.
And after much thought and prayer, I felt like God was pulling me in a new direction. Not that I would completely abandon my Event Planning business, but just put it on the back burner until later. So anyways, as things happen and we move along towards our goal, I will update and reveal certain things. So please, visit my Etsy page and tell your friends about it too! I will slowly be adding more things to my listing as I have time. Since we are preparing to move in OH, 19 days!

How Much More Home Improvement Can You Get?

Woo Hoo!! Boomama is hosting this whole Before and After Home Improvement thing-y, a Carnival if you will. And since we are about to experience the ultimate in home improvement, I wanted to join in too!





The idea is to post your goals of what you want to accomplish before July 25th. And then posting your link to your goal at Boomamas. Thus putting yourself and your hopes and dreams at the mercy of others to hold you accountable!

So here is my goal, its a lofty one so hold on to your hats. If you are wearing a hat, otherwise just sit there and wait patiently, I guess.

1. Get packed
2. MOVE
3. Paint new home (Princess's bedroom, boys bedroom, and living and dining room, and kitchen.
4. Unpack a substantial amount of stuff.

Now, I realize the likelyhood of painting everything I want to, is slim to none, but it is my goal. We are finally going to be someplace where we can paint. And last night I found this cool website by Behr paint. It helps you pick a color, coordinating colors and then you can upload a pic of the room to be painted and SEE how the colors would look in there. I know, crazy, right?
The Princess is going to have a lavender and butterfly themed room, the boys will be shades of blue, with a construction theme. Well, once I find bedding they like they will have a construction theme. I want to do a color called Frosted Pomgranate in the living room and dining room areas, and then Banana Split in the Kitchen with cream accents. If I even get half this done, I will feel accomplished!

So what are your home improvement dreams??

The Not So Magic Word

As kids, we were all taught that there were magic words. And no, not Abra Cadabra, or Ala Kazaam either. I tried those, and never got anywhere! I am talking about the word Please. Please tacked onto anything will get you what you want. Or so the story goes. There is even a Backyardigans song that tells you "Please and Thank you will get you practically anything you want with a smile."
And Train Junkie believes it with his WHOLE HEART! Cuz ya know, they wouldn't be able to put it on TV if it wasn't true! He will ask for cookies in the morning, and being the good mom I am, I tell him No.... and then sneak one myself :) And TJ will then throw himself on the floor whining, (I know, its so odd for a 4 yr old to whine) "Mommy, I said PLEASE!!" Which he did, but that does NOT mean he is going to get it. OH! the TEARS and the ANGUISH. He is really going to be good at the whole Teenage angst thing, I tell ya.
Being polite is important, I want the kids to say please and thank you, your welcome, and no thank you. We are not however, going to lead them to believe that by saying "Please!" they are entitled to whatever they ask for. So now, we are working on teaching them to handle disappointment with grace. Hard to come by in a 3 and 4 year old. What I find funny, is that Little Guy is better at handling being told no, his response?
"Oh BARNACLES!"

Stranger Danger

Since we are moving to a new and very large city I decided the other day in the car educate the boys in the ways of avoiding, and getting away should a stranger ever grab them. Not that we want them to live in fear, but so they know they have the power to get away, and not be scared to do whatever they need to do. I explained to them, that should they ever wander away, or get lost and someone, OTHER THAN A POLICEMAN, tried to grab them, they were to kick, hit, spit, pull hair, and scream as loud as they could until the "Stranger" let go, and then to run as fast as their little legs could carry them.

Well, since we had that conversation, now they want to know if EVERY single person they see, is a stranger. Even on TV. Every Character, "Is that a Stranger?" "Is that a BAD stranger?" I am glad they are so aware of whats out there, but FOR THE LOVE!! make the questions STOP!

Monday AGAIN?!?

Monday has rolled around again, putting us just a little closer to our move. I think because we have SO much to do within the next couple of weeks, it is going to fly by. I want the house packed up before hubby and his crazy ship go out to celebrate the 4th in the Virgin Islands. Good to know that no government money will be wasted...

Having moved several times since we got married, I have packing down to a science. Thankfully this last time we moved, we didn't go very far and then didn't unpack everything. But that meant that some boxes were half packed. So those had to be compiled. Next up was packing up all our winter clothes. I have been picking up things for the kids here and there since I found out we were moving to a state with actual seasons. It took two pretty good sized boxes, and a Ziploc XXL bag to get almost all of it. Finally we went through the boys toys in their room, and tossed some and packed most. So why don't I feel like we even made a dent??

Its any wonder anything happened, considering I have two boys who TALK NON STOP. Train Junkie can change subjects every 30 seconds with out missing a beat, while Little Guy can talk about lizards for 30 minutes. I am so thrilled they have such an extensive vocabulary, truly I am. However every now and then my brain goes numb. And I can't even think enough to put together a complete sentence.

Probably why I don't mind going grocery shopping all by myself. Somehow I managed to make a list, and even a menu. We need to at least use up everything in our fridge and freezer. The cupboards I am not so concerned with. All that will travel well.



Sunday: Steak Filets, Crash Hot Potatoes, Salad
Monday: Chicken Soft Tacos
Tuesday: Wing it hubby has duty
Wednesday: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
Thursday: Ravioli with Sausage and Peppers
Friday: Roast Chicken and Veggies
Saturday: Italian Meatball Quesadillas
Sunday: Fathers Day! Hubby picked Barbecue sandwiches, oven fries and ice cream

Usually we are not quite so meat heavy in our meals, but like I said, I am trying desperately to clear out our freezer. And with only 33 days left, we may not get to it all! ACK! Anyone want some chicken?!

Defender Of The Innocent

Lizard that is. They are a fixture where we live. And everyone in our house, including me, loves seeing them skitter across the path wherever we walk. The past couple of days we have been seeing this gray and white kitty hanging around outside our backporch. Which is fine, I have nothing against cats. Our dog doesn't bark at it, and I thought it just wanted shelter from the crazy thunderstorms that have been making an appearance every day since Sunday.

Until the morning, when Little Guy came shrieking into the kitchen about the cat. I ran into the living room to see the cat trying to EAT a baby lizard. I opened the back door and shooed the cat away from the poor pitiful little lizard. Who made a full recovery by the way and shot across my patio.

My next move was to find the spray bottle and fill it with water. The last think I need my boys having nightmares about, is a demon cat eating their FAVORITE animal (or I guess reptile?) in front of them.

So, the cat came back, as they tend to do. I really think the cat used to live here with whomever was here before us. This time it got a bigger lizard and managed to get its tail. Oh the HORRORS. I chased the cat away and picked the lizard up and put it as high up on a tree as I could. Which consequently is not very high, as I am pretty short. But I did my part, and while I may not be able to save all the lizards out there, there are 2 who are safe for now! Hee hee, finally something I can put on my Super Hero resume!

Fun In The Sun

With only a few weekends left in the Armpit, we are making to most of them. Which is a little odd considering we don't much like it here. HA! Saturday we did a yard sale that the USO hosted. Its a little difficult to have one at the Posh Casa so we opted to take the USO up on their offer. It was STINKING hot outside, I got nice and toasty. Of course we remember to slather up the kiddos in sunscreen. And tried to make the Princess wear a sun hat, which consequently spent more time in her hand than on her head. So I completely forgot about my own SPF needs. The yard sale was from 9 to 2, but we figured we had made all we were going to make by 1pm. So once I was the color of the Durango (red) we called it a day.
The next day we took a trip down to the beach, I had been hit with a crazy stick apparently and had applied to try out to sing The National Anthem at a professional sporting event. If you all remember, this is a strange dream of mine to do. But it has been about oh 4 years since I have sang in front of a crowd of people. Mind you, this was while being accompanied by music and at least one other person leading worship with me. This audition required singing acapella. In front of people I didn't know.
Not knowing what to expect, we headed down to the local town mall so I could sign myself in. Man, there were a lot of people there, and a line to stand in. Once I got to the table, I had to choose a number. The number that would decide where I was in line. Guess what number I picked. 4. I picked 4.
Which turned out to be a good thing, since had I been any higher up in line, my place would have been occupied by a huge chicken, and then I wouldn't have been there at all! There were some lovely singers there, people who sing professionally, and even some "Child Stars" complete with Mom and Dad-agers.
But OH WAS I NERVOUS. And the bad thing, well it might be a good thing, anyway, I don't get nauseous or throw up when nerves attack. I get REALLY hot, think Hot Flash hot (not that I have any experience in that area, but I can guess.) and then I feel like I am going to burst into tears. And it shows in my voice.
As the Queen of Procrastination, I waffled for a few weeks on what to sing, settled on Amazing Grace, since its fairly simple. Then jumped to Over The Rainbow. And when it came to be my turn, Amazing Grace is what came out of my mouth. I did it, and overcame my fear. Which is great. I didn't make the top 20 this time. Which I had no delusions of happening. However, I know I can do it, and will do it again until hopefully I do get picked to sing it.
From there we decided to hit the beach. I mean it only made sense, after driving an hour and a half, we couldn't just go to a mall and drive home. The boys had a blast, and The Princess had her first experience with sand. Not only that, the firm sand seemed to offer her a little more stability than our carpet and she actually popped up into a standing position once or twice! And like most little ones, a lot of that sand made its way into her mouth. Mmmmmm, nothing like a tasty fistful of sand to tide you over until dinner. Or until you can purchase some Saltwater Taffy.





We decided to take the scenic route home. Avoiding a nasty thunderstorm, and finding a big turtle. Hubby spotted the turtle making his way down the side of the road and turned around so he could pick it up. Thank goodness it wasn't a snapping turtle!



We all had a lot of fun, which is going to have to tide us over for a while. Hubby went out on his boat for 2 days, and once he comes back we are going to try (keyword here is TRY) to start getting some things packed. Our move day has been thrown off because of the ship being "desperately" needed in BARBADOS, and hubby's detachment day falls 4 days into the trip. The XO is trying to make him go, he could detach on July 1st, but then I would have to work fast to get him a passport and then fly him home for a LOT of money. Or wait for him to come back, which could jeopardize our housing.

Then Saturday at the yard sale, I was talking to the President of our FRG (support group) and she informed me our Ombudsman (don't ask me why they are called that, and if you know why, I would love to know!) could possibly get it considered a hardship and get the Captain to let him stay behind! So any prayers would be greatly appreciated!

I'm Still A Kid!

Well, actually my hubby is! 5 Minutes For Mom is hosting a Nestles Crunch Kid In You Photo contest. The prize is a Wii, which would be wonderful for us! We are moving to the midwest in about 41 days. (yes I am counting down!) Yesterday hubby mentioned that someone had brought one onto his ship the other day, and it was a lot of fun. We have chosen for the time to be game system free because I just didn't want to get it started. I know how it can suck people in. But since we are moving somewhere that actually gets a LOT of snow, and will probably housebound quite often, I thought we should start looking into getting a Wii so the boys could be active in the too cold to go outside times. So winning this would be perfect!






This is hubby with The Princess, and I think it definitely shows his inner kid, since he gets to be with his baby girl!



But then I think this a pretty good example of hubby being INCREDIBLY silly! He sent me this photo when he was deployed, he had found the shirt and thought it would make a great photo! I laughed myself silly over that one!

The Bird

This morning was TJ's Mothers Day Fiesta. And of course, I had my camera case, which was devoid of camera. Go figure. Otherwise I would have captured it on film. It was adorable though. All the moms, grandmas, and aunts sat while our darling children filed in to sing songs to us.

We were entertained by the song stylings of 2-3 yr olds (a lot of 4 yr olds too) doing re-mixes of Jesus Loves Me. Instead they sang Mommy Loves Me, and I Love My Mommy. The Grand Finale was 5 Little Monkeys.

There were of course hand gestures that had been taught. TJ has always had a bad habit of pointing with everything except his pointer finger. This morning, he was FLIPPING off the entire room of Preschool parents!

Busy Busy Busy!

You ever have one of those weeks where it seems like you have way too much to do and not enough time to do it in? Well, every week from now until the beginning of July is going to be like that for our family.
This week is crazy because hubby and his SILLY (stupid really, but I'm not supposed to use that word and when I do, TJ gets on my case...) ship are out until Friday. That's right, the ship, the same one that was out for 6 months is out again. It will come back Friday in the late afternoon, be home for the weekend and go out AGAIN for 8 days. *update* I just got an email from the Ships liason saying the ships email is down and their return date is uncertain. Prayer would be appreciated!

TJ's Mothers Day Party for his class is Wednesday. I had been counting on hubby being home so he could be with Little Guy and The Princess so I could go and just enjoy being with him. Now all THREE of us will be going, which should make for an interesting morning.

Here is a list of things I just need to get done today:

*Clean Kitchen, dishes, counters, floors
*Vacuum downstairs
*Laundry: wash, fold, put away
*clip coupons
*Clean the bathrooms
*straighten boys room

Which doesn't seem like a lot until you throw 3 kids and our newest addition into the mix!

Hubby gave me my Mothers Day gift a week early, I got a Teacup Chihuahua! He is 4 yrs old, which is GREAT. That means I don't have to housebreak him. Its already done! He is about 7 inches tall, and probably weighs 3-4 lbs. SO SWEET! And docile. No incessant barking, yipping or whining. His name is Bandit, or as I like to call him El Bandito!

The pressure is on us because we are going to be moving to the great Mid-West in 2 months. We have a TON of stuff to pack between now and then. I am trying to weed through stuff we haven't used in a while and either sell it, or "GASP" throw stuff away! Its a little hard to get everything done with hubby in and out, but after this next time he is going to try and use his 10 day house hunting leave while the ship goes out in June.

I think TJ is hitting a growth spurt, he is eating everything in sight!
We had just eaten breakfast this morning about 15 minutes earlier when he started in again about it, "I am SO hungry Mommy!"
"You just ate!"
"Well, I only have a LITTLE party in my tummy, I need a BIG party in my tummy now!"

Mother Nature Can Be Mean

My motivation for today has gone down the tubes. And I mean that quite literally. When I went to bed last night, I had my whole Wednesday mapped out. Get up, take TJ to school, come home and put The Princess down for her morning nap, vacuum, clean up the kitchen and then make out my grocery list and clip my coupons. Go pick TJ back up and head to the base for lunch at the park while we wait for hubby to get done at work. Then to the commissary to grocery shop and home for the evening.

The Princess tossed and turned all night, fussing off and on. And promptly threw up in her bed this morning. Afterwards she seemed quite perky and cheerful. So I haven't decided yet if it is a bug with her, or perhaps a bad cup of milk. I, on the other hand, seem to have a standing date with the bathroom this morning. TJ managed to get to school and I vacuumed when we got home. As for the rest, the only motivation I have is to sit here and hope I can make it to the bathroom when nature call again.

Late Is My Middle Name....

Last week went by so quickly, we barely noticed it around here. And now here I am, and it hit me, I missed Menu Plan Monday! Now in my defense I have been UBER busy around here what with hubby home and all! And I would rather be be busy with hubby home then trying to fill up the days waiting.
Grocery shopping last week went ok, but coupons at the grocery store only got me $2 under shopping at the Commissary without coupons!
Now on to the Menu for the week. I hadn't put a lot of thought into it, until this morning. Since this weekend there is a Cinco De Mayo celebration at the Town Center here, mexican food will DEFINITELY be on the list!



Monday: Fettucine and Chicken strips, green beans
Tuesday: Breakfast for dinner
Wednesday: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
Thursday: Bacon and Cheddar Stuffed Chicken Breast, Salad, mashed potatoes
Friday: Wing it, hubby has duty
Saturday: Enchiritos (enchilada and burrito in one!)
Sunday: leftovers

Hubby and I might actually get to go out together Saturday night if we can find a sitter. That seems to be a tough thing to do here. Short of calling an agency. Which I think would be last resort for us.
Things are settling into a two parent routine around here. TJ and Little guy LOVE having Daddy home. And The Princess is starting to really want to spend time with him.




As for the whole wanting to win First Kiss, it didn't really seem to matter this time around. Everything moved fairly quickly without a lot of hoopla! Before we knew it, hubby was off the boat and back where he belongs...

She Does It So Much Better!

I am sure by now most of you out there are familiar with a certain television Talk Show Host by the name of Oprah Winfrey. She is kind of big in case you haven't heard.
Anyway, the past month my impression of Oprah has changed quite a bit. I used to think she was a successful, but generous woman. Whose roots were based in the Baptist Church. I also rather blindly thought of her as a Christian.
Honestly, her show was not watched on a regular basis in our home. I think I watched occasionally, mostly her Favorite Things show each Christmas.
Then I caught a show that was about "Making Dreams Happen" or something like that. I thought it was going to be about persevering in your goals, tips to succeed, things like that. I was so surprised when the guests were 2 women talking about making a "Vision Board" where you put your wants and things you desired and then in essence, the Universe would bring it to you. Oprah quoted the scripture that states "Ask and it shall be given" It just did not set well with me, it sounded New Age-y. The scripture was taken out of context and felt like a way to justify being selfish.
At the end of the episode Oprah introduced the new book and her first online classroom. The book? A New Earth by Eckhard Tolle. Never having been one to take part in the Oprah Book Club, I didn't even give it a second thought.
Until my email in-box began filling up with well meaning e-mails about Oprah. Some I read, others I didn't. UNTIL I received one from my best friend in Oregon. It had a link to You Tube and some video clips from her show.







Needless to say, my jaw dropped. I had no idea.
I really wanted to immediately post something thought provoking and Biblically sound to hopefully help anyone who might be confused or is searching for answers. However, I stumbled across THIS website and well, its everything I wanted to say, only much better!
Lysa has several posts about this subject, so please check her out, she speaks the truth!

MPM Trying To Get Back On Track!

So, I know it has been stinking forever since I have posted my menu plan here. My excuse? Hubby deployed and 3 little ones to take care of. I just didn't have a lot of time and well, you all didn't need to see how much cereal and sandwiches we ate!
But in a renewed effort to really save on groceries and pay down our debt, I am BACK! I shopped at our commissary last week, minus coupons (I hate when that happens!) and I will be shopping the sales this week at the local grocery store to see where we do better. I hope to post my findings after I do a real shopping trip at the commissary armed with my coupons. I am also determined to give the whole CVS ECB a shot again. And will share how I do with that as well.
I used the Grocery Game in the past, which was a wonderful tool, but the commissary doesn't participate with this site.
Ok here is my menu for the week!



Sunday: Ravioli with Sausage and peppers
Monday: Soft Tacos
Tuesday: Crockpot Beef Stew
Wednesday: Wing it since hubby has duty
Thursday: Grilled Cheese and Tomato soup
Friday: The Infamous Chicken Sandwich and fruit
Saturday: leftovers or sandwiches
Sunday: Italian Meatball Quesadillas
Monday: Roasted Chicken and Veggies

So there you have it! Fairly simple and kid friendly. The Princess wants nothing to do with baby food anymore so I have to think of things she can eat too.

The Next Tim Gunn?

This past Saturday I piled the kids in the car and we headed out to the Base for the Family Day picnic. This was only for the families of the ship deployed. Not something I usually attend, simply because I am not your average Navy wife. (Which I realize makes me sound like a snob, and I promise I am not, if you knew most of the guys on hubbys boat, you would know why)

The main entrance to the gate intersects with a road that goes into a park. Where you can camp, or go down to the beach. There is also a really nice play area with a water playground. I can only assume this is where a family was heading that was crossing the street next to us. Nothing out of the ordinary, mom, dad, and some kids. One particular little boy was ready to swim in a pair of swim trunks.

Train Junkie was in the backseat and watching from the window.
Then I heard a loud "GASP" from the backseat, "MOMMY!! That boy is NAKED!"

I am scanning the streets wildly, looking for the perverted kid who is naked. Not seeing anyone, I look a little closer and recognize the issue is with the kid in his swim trunks.

"Sweetie, he is not NAKED, he is wearing swim shorts."

"Well, he needs to put some clothes on, it is NOT ok to go out in just your swim shorts"

Yes, Thank You Train Junkie for reminding us of correct Fashion Etiquette!

Birthday Post For Little Guy....

Ok, so this is a little belated, I wanted to get to this about a month and a half ago. However, ALL of his baby pictures are on my old laptop and it can be a HUGE pain to get them to upload to Photobucket in a timely manner.
So while his birthday letter is here, I will have to add the baby pictures at a future date.

Dear Little Guy,




You have been 3 yrs old for a little while now, and I still look at you sometimes in amazement. You can talk circles around a lot of the 3yr olds I know, but you are still so little that everyone takes you for a new 2 yr old. You are smart, and ridiculously funny sometimes. You have more energy than anyone I have EVER met!
Everything you do, you do with a passion and a fierceness that touches my heart and scares me to death sometimes. You play hard, putting all your effort into all that you do. You love hard, giving some of the best hugs and kisses. Just this afternoon, you ran and threw yourself at me. Your little arms tight around my neck as you shouted in my ear, "LOVE YOU MOMMY!!" You can be so sweet. And such a stinker. Sometimes simultaneously!



We had some tough times with you. You eat almost anything I put in front of you now, but for a whole year, you couldn't have anything dairy or with gluten. You were barely sleeping because of how much pain you were in. You would cry and cry while I rocked you. After a lot of prayer and working to figure out what it was, we found out your digestive system just wasn't handling the gluten and dairy and was making you sick. You are over that now, thank God!



You ADORE your baby sister. And absolutely dislike anyone who is a stranger talking to her. You frown at them and tell them, "Thats MY baby." I love that you hug her and kiss her. Telling her she is your little princess.

So, my sweet little guy, while this has been a tough year for you with Daddy being gone, you will have your Daddy home soon! Mommy and Daddy love you like CRAZY! I hope this year is full of learning and fun. I can't wait to see how much you grow!

Love always
Mommy

THE HAIRCUT!!

Ok, I have been asked a couple of times to put a pic of my new haircut on here. Took me a while since in order for it to look the way its supposed to, I have to DO IT. Amazing concept, right? Let me put it this way, if I wash it and let it go it does this strange wavy flippy thing, and I end up looking like Carol Brady with a nose ring. (Think the later Brady episodes) And I SO don't want to look like I have a mom haircut.



*Immediately following haircut pic, what is with the head tilting?




This is about 2 months later. It has grown out a bit and I tend to just flat iron it and not bother with putting product in my hair. But when I do, its all cool and funky!